Serenity Retreat - meditation, relaxation, space.

We are a small independent holiday company for solo travellers who are interested in self-reflection and meditation and we offer sole occupancy of beach-side studios and apartments.

At Serenity Retreat we offer:

Lefkada, Greece: 'Right on the Beach' retreat style holidays on this beautiful island, with optional courses. We generally have between 12 and 18 guests a week. ALL rooms are for solo occupancy ONLY. Everything is optional and everyone gets a great view of the beach, with no surcharge. A £150 (mostly) refundable deposit secures your place.

Also in the UK: A New Year Retreat with the focus being on the restorative and transformative power of silence and self compassion - especially suited to those who have never experienced silence in a retreat setting before. Use the timetable to work for you, so do as much or as little as you like. The only thing we ask is that you honour the silence - 10 places left.

At Serenity Retreat you get to do as much or as little as you like. We really, really mean that - we welcome extroverts, we 'get' introverts and there's always a home for the 'something in the middle overts'. Your holiday - you choose how you want to spend your time.

Fundamentally, serenity is an inside job - we intend to show you that when you come and visit.

The 'Retreat' concept is less about sack cloth and ashes and more about retreating to a slower pace of life. It's there for the choosing on the island. Serenity Retreat aims to provide its guests with an opportunity to come to rest and relax. Learning to relax even though the mind feels very busy is a real gift. Our qigong, meditation and courses aim to help you learn not to take that busy mind so seriously and to develop a healthier relationship to it. Being able to relax as the mind is going ten to the dozen is a skill that can be learned and it will serve you well in the 'real' world.

Our main programme runs throughout May, June and September on the Greek island of Lefkada.

At New Year we run a partly silent retreat. A great way to start off the year. Ideal for a pit stop from the hurly burly of external forces, (especially after Christmas) and a great chance to meet your own internal ones :)

Projects in the pipeline.We have a number of things percolating: a deep-diving self compassion retreat in the UK for an intimate group of four, a book may be written and who knows what else may turn up. There is always something bubbling away, some things will come to fruition, some things will remain as ideas. Either way, we'll keep you posted on here, if you'd like to get the early heads up though, feel free to subscribe to our (dreadfully infrequent) newsletter

Reviews

If you're reading this on a mobile, scroll down to see our media reviews or check out the independent review collector. If you're on a laptop, you'll find the same info to the right of this text.

Serenity Retreat chooses to share its success. We donate a minimum of 5% of our profit to a number of charities.

"Take a breath and refocus yourself on these wonderfully
afordable beach-front meditation-based holidays for solo
travellers on the laid-back island of Lefkada. Led by Zen
Buddhist teacher Kim Bennett, they ofer meditation
sessions with the option to join other wellbeing sessions
and enjoy treatments and trips. Rejuvenate with sea and
mountain views, just a 30-minute drive from the airport"

We had our first mention in the Sunday Telegraph Travel Section in April:

"For a beach holiday that is also a retreat, head for the island of Lefkada in Greece where Serenity Retreat offers just that: guided walks, qigong and meditation. It's geared towards solo travellers and you can do as little or as much as you want- and I'd say the place is tranquil rather than silent. Should you want to try complete silence, the company offer weekend silent retreats in Yorkshire as well".

"It’s great for solo travellers interested in spirituality and personal growth or just pure relaxation, and tends to attract people who have started to question their lives and who want to live more meaningfully".

Set up by Zen meditation teacher Kim Bennett, Serenity Retreats are aimed at solo travellers looking for self development. The week long retreat has an easy-breezy approach and while there are mindfulness walks, guided meditations and excursions on offer, nothing is compulsory. "Our emphasis is on giving our guests space", Bennett says. "Our accommodation is on the beach and we encourage guests do nothing other than watch the sea and the mountain for a restorative effect".